


Altean Jewelers

by Strange and Intoxicating -rsa- (strangeandintoxicating)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, minor cheating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24016270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangeandintoxicating/pseuds/Strange%20and%20Intoxicating%20-rsa-
Summary: Having worked at Altean Jewelers for the better part of a year, Keith had long gotten used to the ‘spouse and side-piece’ type of guys who would stop by and empty their wallets in front of him.But this? With Mr. Wallet?This was, hilariously enough, an absolute accident.Oops.Or: AU where Keith is a jeweler, Adam's a dick, and Shiro's in for one hell of a surprise.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Mentions of Shiro/Adam and Adam/Curtis
Comments: 38
Kudos: 283





	Altean Jewelers

**Author's Note:**

> This story was a request from @Candito who wanted to see me go a little more in depth with a twitter AU idea I had!

Keith was, in a word, an idiot. 

Having worked at Altean Jewelers for the better part of a year, he had long gotten used to the ‘spouse and side-piece’ type of guys who would stop by and empty their wallets in front of him. They were always the same— a lot of money, decent-enough looks, and usually a bit over the hill, if Keith had to guess.

Keith figured they were going through their mid-life crisis, and considering he got paid on commission, he had long ago learned to push down his complete and utter disgust. He was good at his job, good at separating the checks, good at keeping his client’s dirty little secrets hidden. 

More than once, Keith had thought about accidentally engraving the wrong name onto a bracelet or even calling to let some poor schmuck know that their $10,000 watch was ready— oh wait, you’re his wife, and Loraine is his assistant? 

Oops. 

It wouldn’t be much, barely any energy at all to let something slip, but every time he really started to think about it, really started to let it gnaw away at him, Keith would get his paycheck and all would be right for a little while. There were plenty of other shops in Galra Mall, but the thought of getting stuck working at Hotdog On A Stick kept Keith from pushing the nuclear button and tanking his job.

But this? With Mr. Wallet? 

This was, hilariously enough, an absolute _accident_. 

The first time the guy showed up, he was all smiles, chatting and joking with Keith, almost as though they were long-time friends. It had made Keith incredibly uncomfortable, at first, but he was used to customers being weird, so he took it in stride. 

There was just something… _off_ about him? Keith couldn’t think of any other way to describe it. It was as though he was trying too hard, trying to be something he wasn’t, and even though he was still young, there was something that reminded Keith of every sleazy older guy who wandered in with their 20-year-old sugar babies who had diamonds in their eyes. 

His order had been simple enough: a yellow gold diamond-encrusted watch with a steep pricetag that was well over Keith’s entire salary for a year. He’d been very particular about the engraving, making sure that Keith got each word right: _To my one love, my Curtis._

Keith had even asked how long they had been together, getting the only real smile Mr. Wallet gave. 

“On and off for about six years.”

“Well, I’m sure he’ll love it.” 

Looking back on it, now, Keith should have seen it as a warning sign for what was to come. He should haven’t know that little Mr. Wallet and his stupidly expensive watch engraved with his boyfriend’s was bound to get him into trouble. Yet, he’d shoved that disgust down just like he did every time, focused on his 3% cut, and moved on with life.

That was, however, until Mr. Wallet walked back into Altean Jewelers a little less than a month later with his arm wrapped around the most beautiful man Keith had ever laid eyes on. He’d figured Mr. Wallet was back to pick up his custom watch, but...

Keith had flat-out forgotten to breathe when all 6’4 of him walked through the door, Mr. Wallet’s arm wrapped around his waist. His hair was as dark as midnight, except for a sliver of gray across his fringe. And goddamn— his _arms_. And his _legs_. And his _chest_ — 

The only reason he hadn’t drooled all over himself was that Allura, the owner’s daughter, dug her heel so hard into his foot that Keith was pretty sure she’d broken a toe— one of his, not of hers. 

Keith winced, resisting the urge to elbow Allura, though just barely. Instead, he turned on his most charming smile, the one that got him his job in the first place, and looked at Mr. Wallet and Mr. Beautiful after telling Allura to get the man’s watch from the back. “Ah, Mr. Wallace. It’s good to see you again.” 

The man smiled, though it was tight. “Ah. Yes… Mr…?” 

“Kogane,” Keith immediately replied, “Keith Kogane.” Keith turned to the beautiful man, reaching out to shake his hand. It was probably wrong, breaking some kind of faux pas, but… Keith had to know that that hand felt like, at least once. After that, he could die a happy man.

_Or at least get through the rest of this miserable day_ , Keith thought as the man took it. He had beautiful eyes— monolidded and wide, with lashes that could have gone one for days. “And you must be—” 

“My fiance,” Mr. Wallet interrupted, pulling the man away by the waist. “We got engaged last night, at his father’s retirement announcement. It was such a big thing, and I couldn’t think of any time more special.” 

“Oh.” Keith’s hand wavered in the air for a moment before letting it drop down to his side. “Oh!” he repeated, trying to breathe in at least a modicum of false positivity. “Congratulations! A ring— of course.”

Mr. Wallet hummed, but then Mr. Beautiful opened his mouth and Keith’s heart nearly burst out of his chest. 

“Yes, thank you.” 

God, he even _sounded_ hot. That just wasn’t fair. 

Keith turned his back to the men, Keith tried to pull himself under control as he gestured at the yellow gold display of men’s engagement rings. “Well, I imagine you want to stay with the same color-tone— yellow gold?” Keith looked at the beautiful man with a frown. Platinum or white gold would have suited his skin better, but...

“Yellow gold?” the beautiful man asked, tilting his head to the side. 

“Well, so it matches your watch,” Keith responded with a frown, and then immediately his words at the way Mr. Wallet winced and went to pull the man back. “I still have it in the back, I’m so sorry the engraving took longer than expected.” 

“No— just—” 

“Adam?” the beautiful man asked, “You got me a watch?” 

“Oh, I’m so sorry for ruining the surprise. Mr. Wallace, Mr. Curtis—” 

“ _Curtis_?” The man’s eyes went wide, entire body going still, and then he said words that made every hair on Keith’s body stand at attention. “As in your ex- _boyfriend_ , Curtis?”

Oh. 

Oh, _shit_. 

“Shiro—” 

“Don’t you _Shiro_ me!” 

The beautiful man— Shiro— yanked away from his fiance with a snarl. “Curtis? _Really_? Are you fucking _kidding_ me—”

Keith started in absolute horror as the screaming commenced. In his entire year of working at Altean Jewelers, he had never fucked up this epically. 

_I’m gunna lose my job, I’m gunna **so** lose my job_, Keith thought as he watched Mr. Wallet try to calm his fiance, but the 6’4 hunk of pure man was _not_ having it. Every touch was swatted away, every promise and beg for calm met with more rage. If Shiro had been wearing an engagement ring, Keith was pretty sure this would have been the moment he took it off and threw it in Mr. Wallet’s face.

The rest of the mall seemed to come to a stand-still as the explosion damn-near blew a hole right through the wall and into the Hot Topic next door. Two of the Hot Topic employees— Pidge and Lance— ducked their heads in around the door, but Keith could only shake his head. 

“I should have known you were still with him! This was all just for my father’s company, wasn’t it?” 

“Shiro— please, it’s not what you think!” 

But Shiro was already out the door, and Keith… all Keith could do was glance at Allura, who had come back to the dumpster fire with _Curtis’s_ watch. 

“What the…” 

Keith only shook his head, waiting for Mr. Wallet to turn around and beat the ever-loving shit out of him, but the man was running out of the shop, past Lance and Pidge— the latter of whom was busy munching on a pretzel. 

“You’re so getting fired,” Pidge said as she tilted her pretzel toward Lance, who took a bite.

“O’ ye’,” Lance replied. "So fired."

Thankfully, though, Keith wasn’t fired, though he wasn’t entirely sure why. His best guess was that since the watch was already paid for and engraved, there wasn’t any way for Mr. Wallet to come back and demand his money (though from what Allura said, he definitely tried.) 

And so, the world continued as it always had before, until about two weeks later when Mr. Beautiful— _Shiro_ — showed back up, rocking a leather jacket and a wary smile. 

“Uh… hey.” 

Keith glanced around the empty store, unsure if he was thankful it was so early or not. Shiro didn’t look like he was about to bust Keith’s head in for ruining his engagement, but…

“Hi,” Keith replied lamely. 

The moments ticked by as Keith looked at Shiro and Shiro looked at Keith, before finally Keith summoned up the courage to speak. “I’m… I’m sorry—” 

“I wanted to apologize—” 

Keith couldn’t help but laugh, and thank god that Shiro did, too. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be laughing,” Keith said after a moment, but Shiro only shook his head. 

“No. It’s… it _is_ funny. Trust me, I’ve been trying to figure out how to respond to, well, all of this,” Shiro admitted, shoving his hands into his pockets. “And I figure, well— laughing is probably the only way to handle this mess.” 

Keith’s laughter died, and he reached up to rub his neck. “I’m very sorry about that, sir.” 

“Shiro,” Shiro replied. “You can call me Shiro. And don’t apologize— I should’ve known he was just after my father’s company. I… I’m just sorry I had to drag you into the situation. I called Mr. Altea the other day, but I still wanted to drop by, make sure that you were okay.” 

“You didn’t have to do that for me.” 

Shiro shrugged. “I dunno. It just felt… right, I guess?” Shiro frowned, digging his hands into his pockets a little further. “Anyway… thank you. For letting me know, even if you didn’t mean to. You saved me a lot of headaches.” “

Keith smiled. “Well, um, okay, then. You’re welcome… Shiro.” 

Shiro was even more beautiful when he smiled. “Well, thank you, Mr. Kogane. I’d buy you a coffee, but I’m sure you’re busy and I wouldn’t want to be a bother.” 

Keith blanked and simply stared for a long moment before Shiro looked away. 

“Ah, sorry. Too forward. Anyway, you have a good day… Sorry for interrupting, Mr. Kogane.”

Keith wasn’t sure what got into him at that moment, what possibly possessed him, but just as Shiro turned to leave, Keith blurted out, “Keith.” 

Shiro paused and turned back to Keith. His smile had returned.

“And yeah— coffee sounds nice. I mean— if the offer still stands.” 

Shiro’s smile widened, and that was all Keith needed. 

  
  



End file.
